Indonesia: A Logging Ban Is Extended

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/world/asia/indonesia-a-logging-ban-is-extended.html

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Indonesia has approved a two-year extension to a landmark ban on clearing primary rain forests and peatlands, an official said Thursday. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed the decree to continue the 2011 moratorium, which barred new logging and palm oil plantation permits under a $1 billion deal with Norway and would preserve 158 million acres, said his environmental adviser, Pungki Agus Purnomo. Environmentalists praised the move but said the government must do more to curb the production of greenhouse gases. Indonesia is one of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters, largely because many of its palm oil plantations are planted on carbon-rich peatland that must be drained first, releasing vast amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. Environmentalists also say that some protected areas continue to be exploited because of corruption and illegal fires and logging. Rapid deforestation, driven by the demand for palm oil, pulp and paper, has caused floods, landslides and the loss of habitat for endangered species.